What Truly Matters
by ani-chan7
Summary: Koutari is looking for a way to make Tatsuki suffer. Tatsuki gets into an accident on his bike, and loses what is most important to him.
1. Defeated

**Hello! This is my first fanfiction story! Please enjoy! And Please review! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hands Off!**

**Warning: This story might contain spoilers for those of you who have not read the manga about Koutari, so if you have not read book 5or 6 do not read this story.This story also contains mild language and violence.**

**What Truly Matters**

Ch: 1 Defeated

"Where are we going Tatsuki?" Kotarou asked as he sat down on the back of Tatsuki's bike and put his arms around Tatsuki's middle. Kotarou didn't know where they were going, but anything beat sitting at home being bored out of his mind.

Tatsuki shivered from Kotarou's touch which was immediately followed by a gruesome image of anyoung manwith a noose aroundhis neck gently swaying from a tree branch. "Grandpa needs a few things from the grocery store… You don't have to come if you don't want to." Tatsuki answered as he put his helmet on trying to ignore the terrible vision.

"I don't care, I just need something to do. I'm so BORED!" Kotarou replied

"Then put these on," Tatsuki said as he handed Kotarou a pair of black gloves.

"Why" Kotarou asked

"Do you want to come or not, besides its getting cold out." Tatsuki said. At least now he didn't have to deal with Kotarou's touch, but something else was bothering him. The truth was he would rather have Kotarou just stay home. Something just didn't feel right. He cared a lot for his cousin, probably more than anybody else, and didn't want anything to happen to him. 'I bet its nothing' he thought, starting up his bike, and shaking the sensation of danger that kept coming back to him.

A little bit later they reached a hill, although it was dark out Tastuki could still see the 'Rode closed' sign at the bottom of the hill. Tatsuki released the gas peddle and gently pressed down on the break, but nothing happened. He started stomping down on the break repeatedly, but still nothing happened. Somebody had cut the breaks.

"Whats going on Tatsuki?" Kotarou yelled as they started racing down the hill,

"hang on Kotarou!" Tatsuki said as they crashed into the blockade at the bottom of the hill. Tatsuki and Kotarou flew off the bike. Tatsuki hit the pavement full force and hit his head in the process instantly knocking him unconscious. When he awoke he hurt all over. He was bleeding a lot, but to his surprise nothing was broken besides a couple ribs. He tried to get up, but found that it was too difficult and just sat himself upright instead. At that time he remembered a horrifying thing, Kotarou was on the bike too. His face contorted in pain as he forced himself to stand up. He nervously shook his head from side to side frantically searching for Kotarou. He stopped and squinted his eyes in the darkness as he saw a dark lump which appeared to be a body.

"Katorou!" Despite the pain Tatsuki ran over toward him. He looked him over, even in the dark he could tell that Kotarou was hurt badly. His left arm was bent at an odd angle and he had gashes all over his body. He gently moved Kotarou's hair out of the way which was covering his face, exposing a cut on his cheek and a deep gash on his forehead both slowly dripping blood. Kotarou looked like he was in a lot of pain and badly injured, so Tatsuki was careful when he moved kotarou into a less painful position.

"Aww. Look what you did to him!" Said a familiar voice. Who ever it was their voice was dripping with contempt and fake sympathy.

"…" Tatsuki knew who that voice belonged to and sure enough when he turned around his eyes instantly norrowed, "Koutari…" Tatsuki said, his voice full of hatred. He turned back and looked at Kotarou's injured body and then turned his head back and glared at Koutari once again, "Its your fault…" Tatsuki said in no more than a whisper.

"Excuse me, my fault!" Koutari started laughing a sick and twisted laugh as if this were the funniest thing in the world. "My fault! I'm not the one who took Kotarou with me!"

"… But you cut my breaks, didn't you. And now…" Tatsuki looked at Kotarou again, "Now he's hurt."

"As if its my fault! I may have cut the breaks, but, as I said, I'm not the one who took him with me, that was you! Look at him, all cracked and broken… It' s your fault, and you know it. He pointed at Tatsuki and smiled, "If he dies his blood is on your hands."

"Shut up." Tatsuki whispered

Koutari smiled, "I mean, just look at him, he looks like he's near to death-"

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Tatsuki roared at he swung a punch at Koutari, who evaded his attack and countered by kicking Tatsuki down to the pavement. Tatsuki hit hard and landed with a 'thump'!

Tatsuki was still on the ground when he heard clicking noises. He turned his head to see Koutari loading a gun. "I've been waiting for this day for so long… Who knew that it would be this easy." He said as he aimed his gun at Tatsuki. "To be honest, I didn't mean to bring Kotarou into this, but don't worry… I'll take good care of him."

After hearing this Tatsuki jumped up and kicked Koutari's hand away flying the gun out of his hand in the process. He also managed to land a couple punches on Koutari, but he knew he couldn't last much longer. He was afraid that he would lose consciousness soon dew to his broken ribs, and probably some other injuries that he didn't know about. His vision was starting to go blurry and he didn't notice that he had fallen on the ground and that Koutari was on top of him until Koutari started punching him. "I guess this works too." Koutari said as he laid another punch to Tatsuki's face, "The gun would've been nice, but you'll die from loss of blood soon enough." He hit Tatsuki on the face again, hard, and Tatsuki's face slammed into the cement. "Having fun yet?" Koutari asked as he watched Tatsuki spit out the blood from his mouth. "Because I'm having a blast."

Koutari stood up and looked at the defeated and broken form of Tatsuki. He picked up his gun and aimed it at Tatsuki once again, "Bye Bye Tatsuki." He said just about to finish Tatsuki off when Kotarou lunged at Koutari. Tatsuki couldn't believe his eyes as he saw Kotarou and Koutari rolling around on the ground. Kotarou managed to knock Koutari's gun out of his hand, but then Koutari pinned Kotarou to the ground. "I wasn't going to involve you, but if you want to die along side of Tatsuki, go right ahead" he said as he landed a punch to Kotarou's stomach. Kotarou gasped for air as he felt the air forced out of his lungs. He could barely remain conscious, much less defend himself. He lost the strength to stand, and was about to fall, but Koutari grabbed his hair and held him up, punching him repeatively."You just had to get involved! Did't you! You just couldn't bear to see your cousin get hurt!" He yelled as he hurled Kotarou to the ground, and kicked the battered form of Kotarou who lay on the ground. It was then when Kotarou finally lost consciousness and admitted defeat. Koutari then kneeled down and punched the unconscious Kotarou again and again.

Tatsuki's anger rose as he saw Koutari beating up his cousin, the one and only person who he truly cared for. He lunged at Koutari once more, who again easily evaded and hit Tatsuki to the ground. Walking over to where Tatsuki fell, he put his foot on his back and rolled him over so Koutari could see his face. Koutari then aimed a kick directly at his ribcage, succeeding in making Tatsuki gasp for air and clutch his broken rib. 'I could kill Tatsuki… But I think that there's a better way to make Tatsuki suffer' Koutari thought as he glanced at Kotarou. He then bent down and whispered into Tatsuki's ear, "If only you would have just died… It would have made things a lot easier… Especially for your cousin…"

Tatsuki tried to get up as Koutari walked over to where Kotarou lay limp on the floor.

Tatsuki tried to yell, but all that came out was a raspy 'No' which was barely even audible. He could only watch in horror as Koutari picked Kotarou up in his arms and started to walk away. After a few steps Koutari stopped and turned his head and said with an unnerving smile and a twisted sense of happiness and pride, "I win." Tatsuki tried to remain conscious as he watched Koutari turn and walk away with Kotarou in his arms, but soon his vision began to blur and then the world went black.

I hope that you liked it! Please Review! And please no flames. If people liked the story I'll post the next chapter pretty soon! But please review!


	2. Waking up from a Nightmare

**Hey! I'm back for chapter 2! Yeah!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hands Off!**

**What Truly Matters**

Ch: 2 Waking up from a Nightmare

When Tatsuki woke up he was in the hospital bed. 'What am I doing here?' Tatsuki wondered as he looked around the room. Then suddenly, like a pile of bricks, it hit him. Everything that happened the night before, the breaks not working, crashing, and losing Kotarou to Koutari. He tried to get up but moaned as pain shot through his whole body.

"Hey your awake… Thank God. I thought that you were never gonna wake up." It was Yutto sitting next to the hospital bed smiling lazily at Tatsuki. "What happened man?"

Tatsuki chose to ignore him and tried to get up once again only to almost fall out of the bed. "Whoa man!" Yuuto jumped as he grabbed Tatsuki before he crashed onto the ground. "Calm down. Just sit back down and tell me what happened."

"He took him." Tatsuki whispered

"Took who?" Yuuto asked very confused, "You were all alone when they found you."

"Kotarou!" Tatsuki snapped, "Koutari took Kotarou!"

"What? How'd that happen!"

"He cut my breaks. Kotarou and I were going out on a quick errand and… And then we crashed… Then Koutari came… And -" Tatsuki clenched his fists in anger at the thought of losing Kotarou, "I swear to God, next time I see him I **will** make him pay!"

'Wow, Tatsuki is pissed. Judging by his aura he's angry, and a little depressed.' Yuuto thought as he watched his friend clench his fist so hard that his knuckles turned white.

"Calm down Tatsuki, we'll get Kotarou back. The best way that you can help right now is by getting better. Once you get your strength back we can go out and find Kotarou together" Yuuto tried to cheer Tatsuki up, but it really wasn't working.

"NO! I'm not waiting. It's my fault that this happened to him, I have to find Kotarou Now!" Tatsuki yelled as he attempted to get up.

"Sorry man, but you have to sit back down. I'm not letting you out of this room until you get better. I mean, look at you, you practically died." Yuuto said as he put a firm hand on Tatsuki's arm to restrain him and stop him from getting up.

"Let go of me! Don't touch me!" Tatsuki yelled as he slapped Yuuto's hand away. "And cut the bull-shit, I don't want your pity!"

"…" Yuuto went quiet for a moment "Look, I know how you feel, I want to get him back as much as you do. Hell, I love him like a brother, and the fact that he's with Koutari is more than nauseating, but you can't help him if you can't even stand." He explained

"I'm not going to sit back and wait as Kotarou gets hurt for something that I did." Tatsuki said, calming down a little bit.

"I know that, but… One week, that's all that I'm asking. By then some of your minor injuries will have healed, and you won't be in excruciating pain every time you try to stand up. While you're in here healing, I'll be out looking for Kotarou. You'll just get in the way in the condition that you're in now." Yuuto pointed out.

Tatsuki seemed to be considering this when he shook his head, "No, not when Kotarou's in trouble. Five days… At most."

'If I can't even walk, then I'll be no help to Yuuto. But I'm not staying in here while Kotarou in danger, I have to do something.' Tatsuki thought to himself.

"Fine then, five days, after that you're free to walk out of this hospital, find Kotarou, then you can go back to your regular bastard like self." Yuuto grinned as an attractive looking nurse entered the room.

"Visiting hours are over. The patient needs his rest." The nurse said to Yuuto before smiling at Tatsuki.

"OK, I'm gonna go in a couple minutes any way." He replied. The nurse then smiled at both of the boys before leaving the room. "You lucky bastard." Yuuto said to Tatsuki as he turned to look at the nurses retreating form. "You get to spend five days in heaven with that angel."

"Just go," Tatsuki frowned

"I'm going, I'm going." Yuuto said as he headed out the door, but then he stopped at the doorframe. "Now be a good boy and listen to the nurses!" Yuuto could never pass up the opportunity to mock either of the Oohira cousins. As he shut the room door he could hear Tatsuki yelling within the room at Yuuto. 'Now for the other Oohira' Yuuto thought as he got on his bike and started down the rode.

**2 hours later**

'This really would be a lot easier with Tatsuki's power.' Yuuto thought as he double checked areas that he had already checked at least three times already. 'I've checked this whole town and all the towns surrounding it at least twice! Hang in there Kotarou!' Yuuto thought as he went to check the whole area one last time before calling it a night.

**I hope you liked it! Please review! please...**

**Oh yeah, Thank you SO MUCH reviewers!**

**TideSong14 You Rock! Thank you so much for being my first reviewer!**

**And MrsJennKenobi394 Your awesome! Thank you for reviewing!**


	3. Sleeping Angel

**Yeah, I haven't really updated in a while, have I? Sorry about that. I was having problems logging into my account. Its turns out that I was just being dumb. Nothing new. Well here's chapter 3! It super short, but its better than nothing!**

**What truly Matters**

Ch: 3 Sleeping Angel

Koutari peered at the still sleeping form of Kotarou. He really was cute, especially when he was sleeping. He then looked at the cast on his arm, the many bandages and bruises that marred his body. Koutari sort of felt bad for doing that to Kotarou, they had been friends before, but then he practically slapped himself as he said to himself, "I didn't do this to him, Tatsuki did. He's the one who started this whole thing, who did this to me. And I will do anything, **anything**, to get my revenge. And besides," he said with a smile, "Tatsuki is the one who took him along and dragged him into our business." He then heard noises coming from the bed that Kotarou was laying on, he smiled at the thought of Kotarou waking up, and portraying a look of complete confusion, horror, and pain. The way he saw it, if he hurt Kotarou, he hurt Tatsuki, and that was his goal in like. He turned toward Kotarou to see if he was awake or not. Kotarou had his body toward Koutari and had a small smile on his face. Koutari's face softened. 'He really does look like an angel' Koutari thought as he walked closer to the sleeping child and inspected his perfect features. "I really am sorry for hurting you like this Kotarou, but right now, I will do anything to get my revenge on Tatsuki."

"…Tatsuki…" Kotarou's face brightened up a little as he mumbled his cousins name in his deep slumber. Koutari felt his temper rise at the thought of Tatsuki. The thought that somebody actually liked him, especially Kotarou, just pissed him off.

'Why the hell do you care for him at all?' Koutari thought as he looked at Kotarou, "How can you actually like him!" Koutari accidentally shouted. It was obvious that Kotarou cared for Tatsuki, and it simple to see that Tatsuki would do anything for Kotarou. He grinned, 'if only I could see you now. I bet your suffering so much right now, being separated from your little Kotarou! Especially when your little Kotarou… is with me! Just wait till you see what I have in store for you and your little Kotarou.' He glanced at Kotarou, who still slept peacefully, and tried to think of another way to further Tatsuki's suffering.

"Tak-kun…" Koutari looked again at Kotarou who seemed to be talking in his sleep.

"You know, he doesn't deserve you," He said to Kotarou. 'He doesn't deserve anybody!' Kotarou thought as his anger began to rise. 'That's why its my job to make Tatsuki suffer by any means possible.'

'I think I have an idea.' Koutari thought as a devious smile appeared, 'I'll give Tatsuki a little visit tonight!' He glanced at Kotarou, 'and with his injuries, he'll be out for a while… And besides, I doubt that he can even stand.'

And with that he left a slumbering Kotarou and bolted out the door excited for the next thing that he would do to torture Tatsuki. Koutari looked at his watch, 11:42, 'perfect, no better time then near midnight to sneak in.' Koutari got on his mo-ped, then started down the road to the hospital to accomplish another step in what seemed like his life goal, to make Tatsuki's life a living hell.

**I'll admit that that was a weird chapter. But I was totally stumped for ideas. I will update soon! Seriously! Hope you enjoyed it! Please Review!**


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